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Concurrences
Revue des droits de la concurrence
Competition Law Journal
Bibliographie
Concurrences N° 3-2014 – pp. 243-249
Sous la direction
de Stéphane Rodrigues
[email protected]
l Maître de conférences HdR, École de droit de la Sorbonne, Université Paris I
Avec la participation de
Josselin J. Lucas
[email protected]
l Avocat, Paul Hastings, Paris et Washington D.C.
Mel Marquis
[email protected]
l Professeur, Institut universitaire européen de Florence
Athanase Popov
[email protected]
l Référendaire, Tribunal de l’Union européenne, Luxembourg
Julie Rondu
[email protected]
l Doctorante contractuelle, Université de Strasbourg
Riccardo Sciaudone
[email protected]
l Avocat, cabinet Grimaldi, Rome
@ Rubrique en accès libre
sur concurrences.com
Bibliographie
Sous la direction de
Stéphane Rodrigues
[email protected]
Maître de conférences HdR,
École de droit de la Sorbonne, Université Paris I)
Avec la participation de
Josselin J. Lucas
[email protected]
Avocat, Paul Hastings,
Paris et Washington D.C.
Mel Marquis
[email protected]
Professeur,
Institut universitaire européen de Florence
Athanase Popov
[email protected]
Référendaire, Tribunal de l’Union européenne,
Luxembourg
Julie Rondu
[email protected]
Doctorante contractuelle,
Université de Strasbourg
Riccardo Sciaudone
[email protected]
Avocat, cabinet Grimaldi, Rome
This section selects books on themes related to competition
laws and economics. This compilation does not attempt to
be exhaustive but rather a survey of themes important in the
area. The survey usually covers publication over the last three
months after publication of the latest issue of Concurrences.
Publishers, authors and editors are welcome to send books
to [email protected]
for review in this section.
Cette rubrique recense et commente les ouvrages et autres
publications en droit de la concurrence, droit & économie
de la concurrence et en droit de la régulation. Une telle
recension ne peut par nature être exhaustive et se limite donc
à présenter quelques publications récentes dans ces matières.
Auteurs et éditeurs peuvent envoyer les ouvrages à l’intention
du responsable de cette rubrique :
[email protected]
Disciplina antitrust e illecito
civile
CASTELLI Laura
Giuffrè editore, Milan,
2012, 236 p.
European
competition
law can be enforced by both public
authorities (European Commission, national
competition authorities) and private parties
(competitors, suppliers, consumers). In recent
years, much attention has been given to
private enforcement of competition law, and
much has been written about it. This debate
was significantly intensified by the decisions
in Courage v. Crehan (Case C-453/99)
and Manfredi (Joined Cases C‑295/04 to
C‑298/04), which established that “any
individual” can sue for damages consequent to
breach of antitrust rules. Inputs to the debate
came also from the European Commission’s
White Paper on damages action for breach of
EC antitrust rules, published in 2008.
However, as often is the case, transposing
and applying principles or apparently “clear
rules” adopted or created at EU level into
domestic legislation is not necessarily an
easy task. Indeed, private enforcement of
competition law at national level remains for
many EU jurisdictions a goal yet to achieve.
This is also the case, as testified by the book
under review, of Italy. The book deals with
the remedy of compensation for damages
caused by breach of antitrust rules.
In the first part, the work focuses on the
examination of the illegal conduct and
the fate of the so-called “downstream
agreements” (or downstream contracts),
which are based on violations of competition
rules. The author navigates the different and
conflicting theories emerged in the academic
debate, as well as the cases decided by
Italian courts. For examples, it is disputed
if the fate of the downstream agreements
is to be found in the lack of lawful content
or purpose. Often one of the party entering
in a downstream agreement is not aware
of the violation of antitrust rules which
has taken place in a previous moment at a
different level. In this case, the contract is not
void. At the end of the analysis, the author
comes to the conclusion that, except in some
specific cases, the only applicable remedy is
compensation for damages suffered.
In the following two chapters, the author
focuses on recent national and EU
interventions in the field, especially in the
light of regulation No 1/2003, and on the
interference between Italian courts and the
competition authority in the assessment of
the offense. The author points out that, in
the silence of laws and regulations, the court
should be free to decide if a specific behavior
infringes competition law and what role
should be recognized to an administrative act
deciding on the same behavior. In the fourth
chapter, attention is placed on issues relating
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243
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to locus standi, the causal link between abuse
and damage, the relevance of the subjective
elements and the prescription of the right to
compensation. The final fifth chapter deals
with the quantification of damages.
The author always provides a comprehensive
analysis of different theories and of the
evolution of case-law. The overall impression
emerging from the book is that the debate
on the relation between contract law,
compensation for damages and infringement
of competition rules is far from being closed.
R. S.
International Merger Policy.
Applying Domestic Law to
International Markets
CLARKE Julie
Edward Elgar, 2014, 320 p.
As there is no international
organization
or
treaty
governing the way in which transnational
mergers should be regulated from an
international antitrust perspective, this book
intends to provide a comparative assessment
of domestic merger control laws and
procedures through identified themes. It also
intends to detail the current legal instruments
of international cooperation, especially on the
basis of the work of the OECD and the ICN.
Noteworthy, the author develops interesting
ideas to improve current regulations in order
to reduce the cost burdens associated with
transnational merger review.
Although surprisingly devoid of almost any
case-law references, it does not mean that
this book is too theoretical as the author has
clearly identified the main aspects at stake for
those practitioners who are used to dealing
with transnational mergers subject to review
by a large number of antitrust agencies in
various jurisdictions. Antitrust practitioners
and researchers will find in this book clear,
accessible, and well-organized comparative
developments on the way transnational
mergers are regulated in a large number of
jurisdictions, and not only on US/EU aspects
(for a detailed review on US/EU aspects, see
S.A. Vandergrift and J.J. Lucas, The GE/
Honeywell Saga? Ehh, What’s Up, Doc?
A comparative approach between US and EU
merger control proceedings almost 15 years
after, [2014] 35 ECLR 172). Helpful and
extensive references are made to the OECD’s
formal recommendations, commissioned
reports, and regular roundtables (pp. 182‑188)
along with the ICC Recommendations to
OECD on international merger control
best practices (p. 185), and the ICN’s Eight
Guiding Principles for Merger Notification and
Review, Recommended Practices for Merger
Notification Procedures, and Recommended
Practices for Merger Analysis (pp. 188-216).
The final chapter, which deals with proposals
for reform, is certainly a must‑read.
Theoretical framework for merger law and
policy
In the first chapter, the author presents a
normative analysis of the approach that
ought to be taken to merger regulation from
both a domestic and a global perspective.
The readers will find an interesting study
of the policy objectives of merger control
regulations, especially regarding traditional
and modern consumer welfare theories.
Regarding merger regulation, specifically
within the context of Premerger Notification
(PMN) systems, a number of criteria should
be observed in order to avoid unnecessary
and inappropriate costs to the parties.
According to Ms. Clarke, merger regulation
must be capable of identifying and preventing
most anti-competitive mergers prior to
consummation. The cost of this regulation
should not exceed the cost of allowing anticompetitive mergers to proceed, on the one
hand, and what is necessary to identify and
prevent those mergers having likely anticompetitive effects. In addition, the cost
of complying with this regulation should
not be such as to unduly burden parties to
those mergers which are unlikely to have any
anti-competitive effects. Last but not least:
merger control regulations should be clearly
stipulated and be capable of operating within
a commercially realistic and predictable timeframe.
cons of such a voluntary system (pp. 94-104),
particularly in the case of smaller economies.
Ms. Clarke accurately points out that: “the
effectiveness of voluntary regimes [depends]
upon the consequences of failure to adhere. For
example, the high notification rate in Australia
arguably results from the potentially high
penalties for failure to notify combined with
the reputation of the authorities as willing to
vigorously pursue those mergers which raise
anti-competitive concerns and are not notified.”
Merger remedies
The author emphasizes the role of remedies,
analyzes the different types of remedies
imposed by the antitrust agencies and
compares their approaches. She points out
a clear preference for structural remedies
and concludes accurately her study by
pointing out that “agencies should coordinate
consideration of remedies with other interested
jurisdictions to ensure consistency and
avoid unnecessary overlap.” This position
echoes some of the more recent decisions,
especially in the hard-disk drive industry.
In Seagate/Samsung in 2011, the Chinese
MOFCOM imposed significant remedies
which contrasted with the unconditional
approvals granted by the EU (see European
Commission, Seagate/HDD Business of
Samsung, Case COMP/M.6214, Decision of
19 October 2011) and US agencies.
Substantive merger law
Extraterritorial application of national laws
After having explained the substantive merger
tests that have been implemented so far—the
competition test and the dominance test—the
author identifies key sources of convergence
and divergence in the analytical approach for
transnational merger review, including: the
role of market definition, market share, and
concentrations, the theories of harm applied
to assess competitive effects, the relevance
of one of the firms being a failing firm or a
maverick, the role of barriers to entry, buyer
power, and the role of efficiencies in merger
analysis. According to the author, the two
key areas in which there remains greater
divergence related to the role of market
definition and efficiencies.
The chapter on extraterritorial application of
national laws details the funding principles
which govern the extraterritorial application
of competition laws, and especially within the
context of transnational merger review.
Merger review procedure
In a very interesting chapter, the author
compares merger control proceedings
in several jurisdictions (e.g. USA, EU,
Australia, China) as for several key issues
such as: structure and powers of the local
antitrust agencies, including the role of the
courts of justice, notification requirements
(i.e. thresholds, timetable, administrative fees,
forms and requested information), process and
time schedule for assessment, transparency
of decision-making, confidentiality issues
and negotiation of remedies. Particular
attention is also given to the limited number
of jurisdictions which implement a voluntary
system of notification (e.g. Australia, Chile,
New Zealand, Venezuela, and the United
Kingdom). The author discusses the pros and
The role of comity and cooperation
In a dedicated chapter, the author discusses
the extent to which comity (within the
meaning of the author, comity could be
defined broadly as the consideration given
by regulators and the judiciary to the laws
and interests of other nations when applying
their domestic regulations, see p. 13) has
impacted national merger enforcement
proceedings and the nature of cooperation.
The author goes on to explain the role of
current bilateral and multilateral agreements
to promote convergence and convergence.
Special and careful attention is given to the
intergovernmental work of the OECD since
the 1960s (pp. 182-188) and the cooperation
between antitrust agencies via the ICN from
the date of its creation in 2001 (pp. 188-216).
The cost of transnational merger regulation
The author identifies the significant
costs related to the current regulation of
transnational mergers for the parties, antitrust
agencies, and the consumers. As accurately
stated by the author, “the cost of transnational
merger regulation on transaction presenting
little, if any, competitive concerns are currently
unreasonably and unnecessarily high.”
Concurrences N°3-2014
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Proposal for rationalization
In order to reduce the existing costs and to
maximize consumer welfare, the author
points out that various possibilities have been
proposed in the past two decades. However,
“outside the EU (…) supranational options for
transnational review seem unlikely and in most
cases undesirable.” The recent supranational
merger control regime implemented by the
Common Market for Eastern and Southern
Africa (COMESA) Competition Commission
since the beginning of 2013 is a good example
to illustrate how difficult it is to implement a
supranational system.
Proposals for reform
The author calls for reform. She interestingly
suggests some priorities for the future direction
of transnational merger review. According
to the author, the OECD Council should
adopt a new targeted recommendation on
several aspects: e.g. translation requirements,
notification thresholds, timing of notification,
fee waiver for initial notification, time limits
for premerger review, transparency, theories
of harm, and coordination of agency reviews.
The author also pays a great tribute to the
work of the ICN and UNCTAD for their
support to develop and implement best
practices and facilitate dialogue between
jurisdictions.
This is a very helpful comparative study
of the context of antitrust regulations on
transnational mergers.
J. L.
European Merger Remedies.
Law and Policy
HOEG Dorte
Hart Studies in
Competition Law, vol. 5,
Hart Publishing, 2013,
288 p.
Dorte Hoeg has recently obtained her Doctor
of Philosophy from King’s College London,
based on a thesis on EU merger remedies.
Her book seeks to identify and examine the
most important aspects of merger remedies
developed by the European Commission
within the framework of Council Regulation
(EC) No 139/2004 on the control of
concentrations between undertakings over
the past 20 years. The author explains that
the policy of the Commission to remedy
mergers used to be virtually unregulated and
characterized by an ad hoc approach, yet
that it is now “arguably the most guided and
regulated area in merger control enforcement”
(p. 1).
It is explained that the merging parties
propose, in response to competition
concerns raised by the Commission after an
initial investigation, amendments to their
notified concentration and, if the latter are
deemed acceptable, the Commission renders
them enforceable while enforcing them as
conditions and obligations when approving
the merger.
The readers learn that the art of remedies
consists in striking the right balance between
the preservation of competition through
adequate remedies and the retention of the
overall commercial and financial incentives,
as well as benefits that facilitated the merger.
The analysis is structured in accordance
with a typical remedies lifecycle: the
negotiation,
submission,
assessment,
adoption, implementation and enforcement
of remedies. It is argued that the current
sophistication and complexity of enforcement
may, in some instances, risk weakening
and undermining some of the enforcement
successes accomplished, if the Commission
does not consider further improvements or
adjustments to its current remedies regime.
The first chapter is an introduction to the
Commission’s past and present policy,
providing a chronological overview of the
latter’s remedies framework over the past two
decades. It explains how the policy of the
Commission has gone through three main
phases, which are: learning, acceleration, and
consolidation.
The second chapter sets out an analysis of
the substantive and procedural provisions
governing the Commission’s remedies policy.
It is explained that there is a consensus
amongst competition authorities that they
should consider remedies only if a threat
to competition can be identified. It is only
once the Commission has clearly identified
and communicated its competition concerns
to the parties that they can address them
by proposing commitments. The author
comments that while the responsibilities
when proposing, submitting and accepting
remedies have become significantly more
clear-cut, formalized and consistent in recent
years, the fact remains that the negotiation
process and the tactics involved are of such
a nature that, in reality, the Commission
“informally indicate[s] to the parties what is
broadly needed in order to secure a conditional
clearance decision and then it is up to the
parties to consider whether they wish to propose
remedies along those lines” (pp. 39-40).
The third chapter sets out the essential
features of divesture remedies, on the
basis of the Commission’s guidelines and
decisional practice, with references to the
findings in the Commission’s Remedies
Study and other reviews. Dorte Hoeg writes
that it is undisputable that the viability of
the assets to be divested constitutes a key
component to a successful remedy. However,
there is allegedly a fine balance between
ensuring viability and potentially over-fixing
the competition concerns by, for example,
adding and separating such assets early in the
proceedings before the resources and needs
potential purchasers are established.
The fourth chapter examines the main postdecision features and modalities when the
remedies are being implemented. Traditional
implementation issues are dealt with, such
as interim preservation, hold-separate
provisions and the appointment and tasks of
trustees. The chapter also highlights newer
and slightly more controversial issues such
as re-selling restrictions on the purchaser and
re-acquisition prohibitions on the merging
parties. As the foreseen and actual time period
used by the parties in order to implement
their remedies are not made publicly available
by the Commission, it is allegedly difficult to
make general statements about the duration
of divesture periods. However, it is submitted
that, based on the data in the Commission’s
Remedies Study, it must be assumed that
divestures are generally implemented within
the standard duration of around 6 months,
taking into account the sector in question and
the modalities of the remedies. According
to the author, third parties are best advised
to concentrate on arguing their case before
the Commission during the market test in
the administrative proceedings rather than
in subsequent judicial review. It is also,
allegedly, fair to say that “sanctions for breach
of remedies are confined to a theoretical
possibility rather than a genuine policy”
(p. 179). As for the lengthy proceedings before
the General Court, they make it “difficult, if
not impossible, to unwind already implemented
remedies as assets and personnel are likely to
be fully integrated at the time of a Court ruling
and, moreover, the market conditions may have
changed” (p. 185). That explains why there are
relatively few merger cases before the General
Court of the EU.
The fifth and final chapter reviews a number
of critical issues in the Commission’s past
and present remedies policy and practice.
The aim of that chapter is to critically discuss
and verify whether the existing shortcomings
are of such a nature and extent that they may
risk diminishing or even undermining some
of the accomplished successes as well as to
evaluate these shortcomings in the context
of the overall objectives of the Commission’s
remedies enforcement. The author thinks
that there are valid reasons for arguing that
the Commission should be mindful of and
possibly reconsider some of its existing
priorities: for example whether the need for
speed and standardization comes at too
high a cost and possibly to the detriment
of other important considerations, such as
proportionality, due process and impartiality.
It is submitted that the Commission would
benefit from “taking a step back to reconsider
whether the evolution in merger transactions
and accompanying remedies practice in recent
years justifies a change of some of its existing
priorities in order to safeguard and maintain
the best possible remedies proceedings the
benefit of all parties involved” (pp. 212-213).
A. P.
Concurrences N°3-2014
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Bibliographie
Building New Competition
Law Regimes: Selected
Essays
LEWIS David (ed.)
Edward Elgar, 2013, 224 p.
Mexico, Hungary, South Africa, Thailand
and Zambia are featured in this collection.
Although this is a limited sample, each
country has a story to tell that is partly
unique but also partly similar to those of
other countries that have undergone the
difficult task of introducing a competition
law ethos and competition law institutions
where there were essentially none before.
Perhaps a conscious decision was made to
exclude most of the BRICS, save one. I can
start with a small criticism, which is that a
horizontal chapter of lessons, for both new
and old jurisdictions, might have served to
unify the chapters. However, the reader can
always write his own imaginary chapter for
this purpose. And, as compensation for this
apparent omission, the book does contain
two bonus chapters, one on international
antitrust
problems
and
institutional
responses, and one on regional (customs
union or common market) agreements with
competition provisions.
A particularly thoughtful (52-page) chapter
on the evolution of competition law and
enforcement in Hungary is provided by Csaba
Kovács and Andreas Reindl. They fully explore
the international influences (with interesting
perspectives on Hungary’s accession process
and the mixture of “reception” and selective
adaptation of EU norms), the domestic
political economy and the inter-institutional
struggles that have shaped the GVH in its
two-decade history. Although one of the
authors is a GVH fellow, the chapter does
not fail to acknowledge the authority’s own
shortcomings and miscues. Competition
authority officials should take note of the
usefulness of this constructively candid
approach, as opposed to the familiar refrain
of—here is where we’ve made tremendous
strides, and we’re at the top of our game.
No deficiencies and we can only get better.
The chapter seems to have been written before
Hungary’s “watermelon” saga began, but the
ploys by the Government to throw its weight
around, favoring collusion in agriculture and
seeking to weaken the GVH, are consistent
with the unsettling trends highlighted by the
authors. As they conclude, the GVH’s hardearned effectiveness and accomplishments
are fragile, and the increasingly inhospitable
political environment in Hungary, coupled
with the incompleteness of cultural change
in surrounding institutions, has generated
conditions of “systemic risk” (pp. 73-74).
The chapter on Mexico, by Eduardo Pérez
Motta and Heidi Claudia Sada Correa,
will appeal to anyone interested in “triage”
regulatory reform in countries that start
from a gloomy state-controlled economy,
rife with industry-wide alliances and bloated
public enterprises. The authors describe the
undoubtedly difficult shift from the basketcase model to a market-based economy with
a horizontal rather than vertical industrial
policy; and they describe the very active and
necessary advocacy efforts of the Federal
Competition Commission (now replaced
by the Federal Economic Competition
Commission), as well as important
amendments made to Mexico’s competition
law in 2006 and 2011. Further significant
institutional reforms in Mexico, including
the establishment in 2013 of specialized
courts to review infringement decisions, were
adopted following the completion of the
chapter. And indeed, the process of reform
has not settled down yet; new proposals were
tabled in February 2104 (see A. Perrot and
A. Komninos, http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/
papers.cfm?abstract_id=2404022).
there is little to say about Thai competition
law, Nikomborirak turns to discuss the
regime in South Korea, which might be
used as a source of inspiration for countries
which face enormous challenges, as Thailand
does, in establishing a credible competition
law regime. Nikomborirak recounts some
of the South Korean “Cinderella” story and
provides a helpful comparative discussion
of the different economic environments that
have characterized the two countries, the
stark differences in their economic structures,
political economies and (independence,
relevance and capacities of) institutions,
and the equally contrasting levels of public
support for the competition law enterprise,
a cause and effect of price regulation that
has tended to keep necessities generally
affordable, thereby sustaining the vicious
circle.
The next chapter, by Janice Bleazard,
discusses South Africa. Understanding
competition policy in South Africa means,
first of all, reading the speeches and essays,
and most recently the monograph, of David
Lewis. But the present chapter differs in that
it is an entirely legal analysis. With reference
to the case-law of the Competition Appeals
Court and South Africa’s Supreme Court
of Appeal, Bleazard recounts how, time
after time, the courts have clipped the wings
of the Competition Commission and the
Tribunal. In some cases this was a matter
of substantive interpretation, but above all
it has resulted from the way the courts have
interpreted procedural requirements. The net
effect of the jurisprudence is to substantially
limit the authorities’ ability to investigate
and adjudicate cases in a flexible manner.
As Bleazard points out, the formalistic and
conservative rulings of the appellate courts
(in vivid contrast to the Tribunal’s purposive
interpretation) have played into the hands of
vested corporate interests, as it has become
increasingly difficult to ensure that cases
are considered on the merits. Bleazard thus
concludes that the courts have frustrated the
will of the South African legislator, which
had conceived the Competition Act not
just as a piece of economic legislation but
as a transformative tool of democratization
and economic-social inclusion. She adds,
however, that the landmark judgment of
the Constitutional Court in the Senwes
margin squeeze case (generally supporting
the Competition Commission’s inquisitorial
powers and overruling the SCA’s scrupulous
adherence to a technicality) may point the way
toward more supple judicial interpretations.
Turning to Zambia, an overview of the relevant
competition law regime and institutional
context can be found in Alex Kububa’s 2012
Peer Review Report for UNCTAD (http://
u n c t a d . o r g / e n / P u b l i c at i o n s L i b r a r y /
ditcclp2012_Zambia_en.pdf). The chapter
in the present collection, prepared by Thula
Kaira, does not really set out to depict the
competition policy framework in Zambia
but it contains an in-depth discussion of the
structure of Zambia’s economy, with a focus
on the role of small, micro and mediumsized businesses (SMMEs). SMMEs operate
in both the formal and informal sectors.
The importance of the informal sector is
understandable: Zambia’s economic fortunes
turned south in the 1970s as world copper
prices declined, and while the country has
experienced relatively rapid growth since
2001, poverty and unemployment levels are
still staggeringly high. In such conditions
one suspects that there are limits to what
competition policy can do unless it is
accompanied by comprehensive efforts to
build sound institutions, even if one can
agree that competitive markets tend to
encourage desirable wealth transfers and
poverty alleviation effects. Be that as it may,
Kaira reaches a number of policy conclusions
based on Zambia’s economic make-up. For
example, he suggests that a competition
authority should be concerned with
anticompetitive practices that harm informal
business operators and formal-sector
SMMEs, given their crucial contribution to
employment and to some equivalent of social
protection. Relying partly on the work of the
2008 OECD Global Forum, he also proposes
that the proper way to manage the informal
sector is to encourage its formalization
through the reduction of regulatory barriers
and of the cost of market entry. Kaira’s other
recommendations include making refinements
to the Competition and Consumer Act in
order to secure more explicit recognition of
the importance of SMMEs.
As if to eclipse the sad story from South Africa,
Deunden Nikomborirak recounts the dismal
failure of the competition law enterprise in
Thailand. This country, like others, illustrates
the need for stable political and social
institutions as a pre-condition for the serious
pursuit of competition policy. For Thailand,
we must recognize that such stability is simply
out of the question for the foreseeable future
(in May of 2014, the situation is dire). Since
Part II of the book, entitled “Multinational
issues and initiatives,” consists of two
chapters. The first, written by Eleanor Fox,
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246
Bibliographie
John Fingleton and Sophie Mitchell, looks
at the gaps, overlaps and “institutional
challenge” of international antitrust. The first
8 pages review the global competition issues
and institutional responses and non-responses
since the 1940s; this historical summary
is written with the astuteness one would
expect from these authors. The remaining
10 pages are more forward-looking and
concern the global competition issues that
remain unresolved, and the ways in which
international institutions, and above all the
ICN, might contribute to their amelioration.
One sympathizes with the authors’ plea for
the governments of major jurisdictions to
liberate themselves from their Palaeolithic
nation-centric interests and to embrace a—
non-mutually exclusive—vision of “world
welfare,” in a manner roughly analogous
to a vision of true global cooperation in
environmental protection. Such a change
of perspective and values would likely bring
long-term benefits to all jurisdictions and
immediate benefits to developing countries,
which cannot act effectively by themselves to
solve global competition problems. Although
nation-states have a hardwired compulsion
to privilege more narrow concepts of selfinterest, the authors’ message is perhaps
not hopeless: the evolution of international
institutions suggests that unpredictable, postWestphalian initiatives do occasionally gain
momentum. In the meantime, productive
cooperation can be achieved even without
a cosmopolitan shift to concepts of world
welfare. In this regard, the authors run
through a variety of issues that require
attention, such as, among others, deliberate
or negligent state-imposed barriers to
competition (sometimes even more pernicious
than cynical price-fixing conspiracies) and
the high cost of multiplicative merger review
reviews (which could perhaps be addressed
by a “common clearing-house” for first-stage
merger filings: p. 180). Needless to say, the
spectre of export cartels continues to haunt
the international community. With regard to
these and other issues, the authors consider
that the flexible, low-stakes nature of the
ICN’s work will furnish important means for
the development of solutions that can later,
if necessary, be upgraded to higher levels of
commitment. The authors seem to recognize
that different instruments, institutions and
degrees of obligation will be more or less
suited to a given problem. The challenge
will be to reach consensus on the means to
be used to address the issue at hand, which
may involve several layers of controversy, and
then implementing, evaluating and improving
on those agreed means.
The final chapter is written by Alberto Heimler
and Frédéric Jenny. The subject is regional
competition law agreements, of which there
are many. This chapter too begins with an
authoritative summary of the reshaping of
the international competition law landscape,
especially since the 1990s and with particular
attention given to developing countries. The
authors recall the unsuccessful campaign
to achieve a hard-law WTO agreement on
competition law and further recall that “southsouth” bilateral cooperation agreements
are relatively few. The rest of the chapter
is devoted to the main subject, regional
agreements. The authors proceed along a
simple line: the main regional agreements are
summarized (Mercosur, Andean Community,
COMESA, CARICOM, and the WAEMU),
and in each case one or more fatal flaws are
identified. The authors’ conclusion that the
major regional agreements are in general
deficient—due to, for example, design flaws
(or in the case of the WAEMU, questionable
judicial interpretation that amounts de facto
to a design flaw), jurisdictional ambiguity,
lack of political will, capacity or financial
constraints, etc.—is consistent with the
findings of the 2012 edited volume by J. Drexl,
M. Bakhoum, E. Fox, M. Gal and D. Gerber,
which I reviewed in this journal last year. In
the final part of the chapter, Heimler and
Jenny recall some of the building blocks of
the “federal” antitrust enforcement structure
in the European Union. The EU is, after all,
the only clear success story among the existing
regional schemes as far as competition law
is concerned. The active contributions from
the Commission and the Court of Justice,
together with other essential elements, can
be traced back to important decisions made
at critical junctures (such as the negotiation
of the Treaty of Rome, the adoption of
Regulation 17/62, and, more recently, the
design and implementation of Regulation
No 1/2003), and the working methods of the
European Competition Network certainly
deserve to be studied by countries seeking
to enhance the efficacy of their regional
arrangements. Heimler and Jenny also
suggest that regional groupings may wish to
adapt and emulate the “twinning” projects
that enabled experienced EU jurisdictions to
train up officials in neighboring and accession
countries, generally with positive results.
This collection is not to be used as a quick
reference; rather, it is a tool to facilitate a
deeper understanding of certain foreign
jurisdictions. This implies that its audience
may be somewhat selective. But each of
the chapters is readable, intelligent and
rewarding. The chapter on Hungary
alone is worth the price. However, readers
with different needs—those seeking more
straightforward presentations of rules,
doctrine, practice pointers and so on—will
want to look elsewhere.
M. M.
La conciliation des enjeux économiques
et environnementaux en droit de l’Union
européenne. Analyse appliquée au secteur
des déchets
VERDURE Christophe
Coll. Droit et économie, LGDJ, 2014, 548 p.
Cet ouvrage, distingué par le prix triennal
Jean Rey 2013, constitue une version
amendée et mise à jour de la thèse de
doctorat défendue par l’auteur à l’Université
Saint-Louis de Bruxelles, sous la direction
du professeur Nicolas de Sadeleer, qui
en signe par ailleurs la préface. Articulé
autour de trois parties, l’ouvrage décline
la problématique de la conciliation des
enjeux économiques et environnementaux
au regard de l’appréhension de la notion
de déchet, d’abord par le droit primaire de
l’Union, dans le cadre de la poursuite des
objectifs de protection de l’environnement
et de promotion du développement durable
(v. art. 11 et 191 à 193 TFUE) et de la
réalisation du marché intérieur (à la lumière
du principe d’intégration et de l’exigence de
proportionnalité) et ensuite par le droit dérivé
(avec notamment une analyse détaillée de la
directive 2008/98/CE du Parlement européen
et du Conseil du 19 novembre 2008 relative
aux déchets et abrogeant certaines directives,
JOUE no L 312, 22/11/2008, pp. 3-30). Et c’est
dans un troisième temps qu’est abordée la
conciliation de ces enjeux dans le cadre de
la mise en œuvre du droit de la concurrence.
De longs développements y sont consacrés
(pp. 286-416).
Est ainsi examinée en premier lieu la question
de l’application du droit de la concurrence
au secteur des déchets. Christophe Verdure
met notamment en exergue certaines
spécificités quant à la définition du marché
pertinent, tant à l’égard des produits
concernés (dont la substituabilité n’est
pas toujours simple à mettre en évidence)
que du champ géographique (compte tenu
du caractère étroit de certains marchés en
cause). L’auteur s’interroge ensuite sur la
prise en compte par les règles de concurrence
de considérations environnementales et
distingue les régimes des articles 101 et 102
du traité sur le fonctionnement de l’Union
européenne (TFUE) : il est soutenu que
de telles considérations sont plus aisément
intégrées dans le cadre de l’analyse d’une
entente (par le recours aux conditions de
l’art. 101, § 3, TFUE ; v. aussi dans le cadre du
contrôle des concentrations par application
du règlement (CE) no 139/2004) que dans le
cadre de la sanction d’un abus de position
dominante, dans la mesure où en principe
aucune justification non économique n’est
alors admissible.
Un titre particulier est enfin réservé à la
question des autorisations et des missions
de service public, qui conduit l’auteur à
s’intéresser à la fois au régime des droits
exclusifs et spéciaux (v. art. 106, § 1, TFUE)
et à celui des services d’intérêt économique
général (v. art. 106, § 2, TFUE, dont la notion
Concurrences N°3-2014
247
Bibliographie
de SIEG a été reconnue à l’activité de gestion
des déchets dans l’arrêt FFAD de la Cour,
du 23 mai 2000, C-209/98), étant précisé
que ces deux régimes sont étroitement liés,
une infraction découlant de l’octroi de tels
droits pouvant potentiellement être justifiée,
à l’aune du critère de nécessité, en invoquant
l’existence de la gestion d’un SIEG.
Au terme de son analyse, M. Verdure prend
position pour estimer que la conciliation ne
serait pas effective en droit de la concurrence
dans la mesure où ce dernier ne tiendrait
pas compte, en tant que tel, des enjeux
environnementaux dans son application.
Aussi, le droit de la concurrence apparaitrait-il
ici “désincarné” (v. p. 416). Cela pose-t-il alors
problème au regard de la nécessité de protéger
l’environnement ? L’auteur ne le pense
pas et va même jusqu’à soutenir que, dans
certains cas, la protection de l’environnement
pourrait en sortir renforcée. Ce qui peut
inciter le législateur de l’Union à rechercher
la conciliation dans la réglementation afin de
ne pas endiguer les objectifs du droit de la
concurrence, comme il semble avoir réussi à le
faire avec la directive de 2008, précitée.
Alliant analyse théorique et approche
pratique, l’ouvrage de Christophe Verdure
aborde une thématique encore inédite, mais
dont les enseignements vont bien au-delà de
l’objet de l’étude qu’est le secteur des déchets,
pour prétendre à une étude généralisable à la
nature même de la construction européenne,
subtil
équilibre
entre
appréhension/
compréhension des réalités du marché et
volonté de poursuivre des objectifs qui
dépassent le champ de l’économique, à l’instar
des objectifs assignés à l’Union européenne
en matière de protection de l’environnement.
S. R.
Les actions civiles de
concurrence. Union
européenne, France,
Allemagne, Royaume-Uni,
Italie, Suisse, États-Unis
VOGEL Louis (dir.)
EPA, éditions PanthéonAssas, collection Droit
GLOBAL Law, Paris, 2013,
202 p.
Le présent ouvrage, à la rédaction duquel
ont contribué les membres de l’équipe de
recherche de l’Institut de droit comparé
de Paris, sous la direction du professeur
Louis Vogel, offre une riche étude comparée
des actions privées en droit de la concurrence.
Les enjeux d’importance de ce contentieux
sont exposés avec une grande clarté, et de
stimulantes pistes de réflexion sont ouvertes.
La consécration, par les arrêts Courage et
Manfredi de la Cour de justice de l’Union
européenne, du principe d’un droit à
réparation au profit des victimes de pratiques
anticoncurrentielles permet aux juridictions
d’accorder des dommages et intérêts à toute
personne ayant subi un préjudice causé par
une infraction aux règles de la concurrence.
Les demandes civiles d’indemnisation à la
suite d’une condamnation par une autorité
de concurrence revêtent, outre leur fonction
réparatrice, une fonction dissuasive pour
les entreprises. L’essor des sanctions civiles
prononcées à l’issue de ces actions en
réparation risque ainsi d’alourdir fortement
le poids des sanctions supportées par les
entreprises. Face à cette problématique,
l’ouvrage propose une étude comparée de
différents droits nationaux de la responsabilité
civile, afin de tenter d’identifier un common
core pouvant servir de base à un modèle
européen de réglementation des actions en
réparation pour infraction aux règles de
concurrence.
Dans un premier temps, sont examinés
les éléments constitutifs de l’action civile,
classiquement la faute, le dommage, ainsi que
le lien de causalité. Ce chapitre est notamment
l’occasion d’aborder la réflexion autour
de l’opportunité des dommages et intérêts
punitifs, exclus par la plupart des systèmes
juridiques, mais qui permettraient, selon une
partie de la doctrine, de renforcer l’efficacité
du droit de la concurrence. Une simplification
de la preuve du lien de causalité est également
préconisée, puisqu’elle constitue le principal
obstacle sur lequel achoppe le droit à
réparation.
Le deuxième chapitre aborde la qualité
pour agir et la répercussion du surcoût. Les
actions civiles en réparation pour violation
d’une règle de concurrence s’ouvrent à un
cercle croissant de personnes habilitées à
agir, sous l’influence notable de la Cour de
justice. Cette acception large de la qualité
pour agir, qui prévaut devant les juridictions
européennes, tranche avec celle adoptée dans
des États comme la Suisse ou les États-Unis.
Si l’ouvrage préconise une appréciation
libérale de la qualité pour agir, quelques
réserves sont émises, notamment au sujet des
acheteurs dits “indirects”. Sont également
proposées des réflexions en vue de solutionner
la question controversée de l’admission du
moyen de défense tiré de la répercussion des
surcoûts.
La preuve fait l’objet d’un troisième chapitre,
qui traite tant de la charge de la preuve
que des moyens de preuve. En la matière,
tout l’enjeu est d’assurer un équilibre entre
l’efficacité de la lutte contre les pratiques
anticoncurrentielles et la préservation du
secret des affaires.
La coordination de l’action publique et de
l’action privée est ensuite examinée. Cette
question se pose en effet avec une particulière
acuité du fait du renforcement des actions
privées en droit de la concurrence. Ainsi,
les règles de concurrence doivent-elles
être appliquées dans le contentieux privé
indépendamment des décisions de l’autorité
de concurrence ? Comment prendre en
compte les programmes de clémence dans le
cadre des actions en réparation ? Autant de
questions auxquelles les systèmes juridiques
nationaux apportent des réponses diverses,
analysées ici avec toujours pour objectif de
dégager une solution optimale.
Enfin, le dernier chapitre aborde les actions
collectives. Le modèle de la class action
américaine suscite certaines craintes de
la part des États européens. En l’absence
d’harmonisation à l’échelle de l’Union,
certains États membres ont pu se doter
d’un système d’action collective, comme le
Royaume-Uni ou l’Italie, quand d’autres, à
l’image de l’Allemagne, ne disposent pas de
texte autorisant expressément les parties à
intenter une action collective. Il convient de
préciser que l’ouvrage est antérieur à la loi
relative à la consommation du 17 mars 2014,
qui a instauré l’action de groupe en droit
français.
À noter enfin que l’ouvrage est opportunément
assorti d’annexes, permettant de se référer
directement aux dispositions juridiques
pertinentes du droit de l’Union européenne et
des droits nationaux étudiés.
des concentrations ou de réglementation
des prix) ; et enfin une approche casuistique
faisant état d’autres expériences que celle
des États-Unis (sur laquelle se focalisent les
deux premières parties de l’ouvrage) : celles
de l’Australie, de la Chine, de la Corée du Sud
et de la France (sous le prisme de l’analyse
économique des contrats de service public
dans les transports urbains), tandis que
le droit de l’Union européenne fait l’objet
d’une étude sous l’angle du contrôle des aides
d’État.
S. R.
Sanctions in EU Competition Law. Principles
and Practice
FRESE Michael J.
Hart Studies in Competition Law,
vol. 6, Hart Publishing, 2014, 284 p.,
(Lauréat du 2ème prix Concurrences 2013)
Standardization Under EU Competition Rules
and US Antitrust Laws. The Rise and Limits
of Self-Regulation
LUNDQVIST Björn
Edward Elgar, 2014, 480 p.
J. R.
À signaler Ouvrages reçus
(pour recension ultérieure)
Fairness in Antitrust. Protecting the Strong
from the Weak
AYAL Adi
Hart Studies in Competition Law, vol. 7,
Hart Publishing, 2014, 220 p.
Competition and the State
CHENG Thomas K., LIANOS Ioannis and
SOKOL D. Daniel (ed.)
Collection Global Competition Law and
Economics, Stanford Law Books, 2014,
290 p.
Troisième venu dans la toute récente
collection Global Competition Law and
Economics de l’Université californienne
de Stanford, placée sous la direction des
professeurs Cheng, Lianos et Sokol, l’ouvrage
regroupe treize contributions sur le thème de
la concurrence et de l’État, articulées autour
de trois parties : d’une part, l’interaction entre
le droit de la concurrence et l’intervention ou
l’activité de l’État (incluant des thématiques
telles que la privatisation ou les partenariats
public-privé) ; d’autre part, la question de
savoir si un cadre juridique spécifique à
l’État se justifie (au regard notamment des
règles applicables en matière de contrôle
Concurrences N°3-2014
248
Bibliographie
L’ouvrage
du
professeur
Lundqvist,
de la Copenhagen Business School,
aborde un thème encore peu défriché en
doctrine : celui de l’application des règles
de concurrence aux normes et standards
techniques, tels qu’élaborés notamment par
les organismes nationaux et internationaux
de normalisation. L’analyse privilégie une
approche comparatiste mettant en parallèle
et en regard le droit antitrust des États-Unis
et le droit de la concurrence de l’Union
européenne.
S. R.
Autres ouvrages signalés Protectionnisme et droit de l’Union
européenne
BARBOU DES PLACES Ségolène (dir.)
Cahiers européens, no 6, IREDIES, Paris 1,
Pedone, 2014, 188 p.
Sixième numéro de la jeune collection des
Cahiers européens de l’Institut de recherche
en droit international et européen de la
Sorbonne (IREDIES), cet ouvrage est
issu du colloque organisé par cet institut
en janvier 2013 à l’Université PanthéonSorbonne (Paris 1). Placé sous la direction
du professeur Ségolène Barbou des Places,
qui en signe les propos introductifs, l’opus
regroupe neuf contributions qui déclinent
le thème du protectionnisme au regard de
plusieurs facettes de l’action de l’Union
européenne, à la fois traditionnelles (politique
commerciale commune, marché intérieur,
protection de la santé et des travailleurs…)
et plus récentes (politique monétaire et
régulation des marchés financiers, gestion
des flux migratoires…). Même si le droit
de la concurrence n’est pas au cœur des
développements (v. toutefois la contribution
relative à l’impôt direct qui met en exergue
le contrôle des aides d’État pour lutter
contre la concurrence fiscale dommageable ;
à rapprocher de la récente annonce de la
Commission d’ouvrir une enquête sur certains
accords fiscaux dont auraient bénéficié des
sociétés installées en Irlande, aux Pays-Bas
et au Luxembourg : déclaration n°14/190
du 11 juin 2014), la tension entre principe
du libre-échange et protection d’intérêts
nationaux n’est pas sans rappeler certains
débats de la dernière campagne des élections
au Parlement européen qui appelaient à une
réforme des règles de concurrence au nom
d’un protectionnisme “à l’européenne”. De
surcroît, à celles et ceux qui s’interrogent
sur l’euro-compatibilité du nouveau décret
français relatif aux investissements étrangers
soumis à autorisation préalable (v. décret
no 2014-479 du 14 mai 2014), la lecture des
actes du colloque ainsi reproduits s’imposera
à l’évidence.
S. R.
The Role of EU State Aid Law in Promoting
a Pro-innovation Policy. A Review from the
Perspective of University-Industry R&D
Cooperation
CISNEROS Mario
Ius Commune Europaeum, vol. 27,
Intersentia, 2014, 167 p.
Competition Law and Policy in Japan and
the EU
KAMEOKA Etsuko
Edward Elgar, 2014, 232 p.
Concurrences N°3-2014
249
Bibliographie
Concurrences
Concurrences est une revue trimestrielle couvrant l’ensemble des questions de droits de
l’Union européenne et interne de la concurrence. Les analyses de fond sont effectuées sous
forme d’articles doctrinaux, de notes de synthèse ou de tableaux jurisprudentiels. L’actualité
jurisprudentielle et législative est couverte par onze chroniques thématiques.
Editorial
Jacques Attali, Elie Cohen,
Laurent Cohen‑Tanugi,
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Thierry Fossier, Eleanor Fox, Laurence Idot,
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Interview
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Mario Monti, Viviane Reding,
Robert Saint‑Esteben, Sheridan Scott,
Christine Varney...
Tendances
Jacques Barrot, Jean-François Bellis,
Murielle Chagny, Claire Chambolle,
Luc Chatel, John Connor,
Dominique de Gramont, Damien Géradin,
Christophe Lemaire, Ioannis Lianos,
Pierre Moscovici, Jorge Padilla, Emil Paulis,
Joëlle Simon, Richard Whish...
Doctrines
Guy Canivet, Emmanuel Combe,
Thierry Dahan, Luc Gyselen,
Daniel Fasquelle, Barry Hawk,
Laurence Idot, Frédéric Jenny,
Bruno Lasserre, Anne Perrot, Nicolas Petit,
Catherine Prieto, Patrick Rey,
Didier Théophile, Joseph Vogel...
Pratiques
Tableaux jurisprudentiels : Bilan de la
pratique des engagements, Droit pénal et
concurrence, Legal privilege, Cartel Profiles
in the EU...
Horizons
Allemagne, Belgique, Canada, Chine,
Hong‑Kong, India, Japon, Luxembourg,
Suisse, Sweden, USA...
Droit & économie
Emmanuel Combe, Philippe Choné,
Laurent Flochel, Frédéric Jenny,
François Lévêque Penelope Papandropoulos,
Anne Perrot, Etienne Pfister,
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David Spector...
Chroniques
Ententes
Michel Debroux
Nathalie Jalabert-Doury
Cyril Sarrazin
Pratiques unilatérales
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Pratiques commerciales
déloyales
Muriel Chagny, Valérie Durand,
Jean-Louis Fourgoux, Rodolphe Mesa,
Marie-Claude Mitchell
Distribution
Nicolas Ereseo, Dominique Ferré,
Didier Ferrié, Anne-Cécile Martin
Concentrations
Dominique Berlin, Jean‑Mathieu Cot,
Ianis Girgenson, Jacques Gunther,
David Hull, David Tayar
Aides d’État
Jacques Derenne
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Jérôme Gstalter
Procédures
Pascal Cardonnel
Alexandre Lacresse
Christophe Lemaire
Régulations
Hubert Delzangles
Emmanuel Guillaume
Jean-Paul Tran Thiet
Secteur public
Centre de Recherche en Droit Public
Jean-Philippe Kovar
Francesco Martucci
Stéphane Rodrigues
Jurisprudences
européennes et étrangères
Florian Bien, Karounga Diawara,
Pierre Kobel, Silvia Pietrini,
Jean-Christophe Roda, Julia Xoudis
Politique internationale
Frédérique Daudret John, Sophie-Anne
Descoubes, Marianne Faessel-Kahn,
François Souty, Stéphanie Yon
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Alain Ronzano, Bastien Thomas
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